Valour FC - 2022 Season Thread

[EnigMattic1]

1 hour ago, K Edgar said:

Rendón 4th from left; Ascanio far right

Jesus!! Esparza has definitely been hitting the gym.

So, that would be: Esparza, Gutierrez, Ponce, Rendon, Baquero, Ascanio.

[K Edgar]

Wednesday game Valour FC with be without: AJB (Haiti team), Catavolo (U20 Team), Ascanio (still VISA issues?!?) and Rendon (suspension from Columbia?!?)

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/13858

[EnigMattic1]

27 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

Wednesday game Valour FC with be without: AJB (Haiti team), Catavolo (U20 Team), Ascanio (still VISA issues?!?) and Rendon (suspension from Columbia?!?)

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/13858

I like how he calls Rendon "kid", despite him being closer to 30 than 20. Even so, I can't think of many suspensions that apply across countries other than substance or violent conduct. Still, who would take a gamble on a player you 1) have to wait for a visa for? And, 2) is suspended for a minimum of 3 games as soon as he officially signs?

And, Ascanio? His visa has hit a snag? Yeah, that really sounds hopeful........

To be fair, you can't really complain about AJB or Catavolo as international football isn't really in their control.

I can see Ponce going back on the bench now that Dyer is fit again, Akio on the right with Rea in the middle and Riggi on the left (but, personally, I would go for de Brienne). Cebara partnering Romeo is a no brainer and Sirois will be the first name on the team sheet.

[K Edgar]

4 hours ago, K Edgar said:

Wednesday game Valour FC with be without: AJB (Haiti team), Catavolo (U20 Team), Ascanio (still VISA issues?!?) and Rendon (suspension from Columbia?!?)

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/13858

Add Diego Gutierrez to the unavailable list (suspended - yellow cards).  Valour will have a short bench once again?  Forge signed 2 local players short-term before their last game.  Will Valour spend a buck and sign Tomy short-term?

https://canpl.ca/article/preview-valour-fc-vs-cavalry-fc-2022-match-40

[EnigMattic1]

9 hours ago, K Edgar said:

Add Diego Gutierrez to the unavailable list (suspended - yellow cards).  Valour will have a short bench once again?  Forge signed 2 local players short-term before their last game.  Will Valour spend a buck and sign Tomy short-term?

https://canpl.ca/article/preview-valour-fc-vs-cavalry-fc-2022-match-40

The worrying part is, the comment about how PDS will "look to keep the rest of the lineup consistent". Has that really worked so far?

I still think Valour should have opted for a few more local lads who would actually put in the extra 10% in times like this when things are tough. Not to take anything away from the likes of de Brienne or Catavolo, they are young and could be built around, but I am still confused by the whole situation surrounding Ascanio and Rendon. This also echoes back to the post by @ValourFuryabout the FC Manitoba game. Local players and a more entertaining match.

I'm seriously starting to sound like a stuck record.......

[Bison44]

The local guys wouldnt have had visa problems.  We would have had them all season....and you never know what they'll turn into.  

[EnigMattic1]

3 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

The local guys wouldnt have had visa problems.  We would have had them all season....and you never know what they'll turn into.  

But, it is like ValourFury mentioned in his post, Hidalgo-Mazzei has impressed at both left back and wing back. Whereas, we have had Pena, Levis and Esparza (who appears to have finally trimmed down). With Pena being a natural winger and Levis having a record of injury problems, Hidalgo-Mazzei would have been a no brainer.

Rendon, now at the club, but suspended for 3+ games. Ascanio, visa has hit a snag. Ponce, at the club, but still settling in. It is like you said, we haven't had them for an extended period. Without Ohin, should something have happened to Rea, Akio or Dyer, we would have been royally screwed. Local players, as you also said, would have been there all season.

Other than a handful of players at York (who are all there a year later), I can't think of another team that has had the visa problems that we have had. And this season isn't the first time (Naiva, Monge, Maza).

[K Edgar]

6 hours ago, Bison44 said:

The local guys wouldnt have had visa problems.  We would have had them all season....and you never know what they'll turn into.  

Tomy has shown up in many of the Valour FC tweets.  He must be practicing with the team (some sort of unofficial contract?), why not sign him to a short-term contract until the VISA issues are resolved.  Forge was able to sign locals when short players so there must be rules which allow it.  Hidalgo-Mazzei too when needed.

[EnigMattic1]

18 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

Tomy has shown up in many of the Valour FC tweets.  He must be practicing with the team (some sort of unofficial contract?), why not sign him to a short-term contract until the VISA issues are resolved.  Forge was able to sign locals when short players so there must be rules which allow it.  Hidalgo-Mazzei too when needed.

There is a saying, "there is a method to the madness". Well I sure can't, for the life of me, understand it. 

I may be wrong, but I believe Tomy is a Winnipegger and Hidalgo-Mazzei is from Saskatoon. But I would put money on both of them putting in more effort than the likes of Esparza. I mean, the fact that Hidalgo-Mazzei has been in EVERY pre season training camp since the club formed and Tomy is still training with them now just shows that both want to be there. Just give them a shot. What's the worst that can happen? 

And what is with the comment by PDS that we are "only slightly behind where we expected to be at this point of the season"? Seriously dude, aim higher.

[charlesmazz]

1 hour ago, EnigMattic1 said:

There is a saying, "there is a method to the madness". Well I sure can't, for the life of me, understand it. 

I may be wrong, but I believe Tomy is a Winnipegger and Hidalgo-Mazzei is from Saskatoon. But I would put money on both of them putting in more effort than the likes of Esparza. I mean, the fact that Hidalgo-Mazzei has been in EVERY pre season training camp since the club formed and Tomy is still training with them now just shows that both want to be there. Just give them a shot. What's the worst that can happen? 

And what is with the comment by PDS that we are "only slightly behind where we expected to be at this point of the season"? Seriously dude, aim higher.

Hidalgo-Mazzei is also from Winnipeg 

[K Edgar]

16 minutes ago, charlesmazz said:

Hidalgo-Mazzei is also from Winnipeg 

Winnipeg born.  Played university ball in Saskatoon.

[EnigMattic1]

37 minutes ago, charlesmazz said:

Hidalgo-Mazzei is also from Winnipeg 

 

19 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

Winnipeg born.  Played university ball in Saskatoon.

I knew it was one or the other. Either way, playing for Valour would probably mean more to him than to Esparza.

[EnigMattic1]

Well, I don't know what to say about last nights game, but congrats to de Brienne on his first Valour, CPL and professional goal.

Saw @ValourFurypost on Twitter that fans want Gale back. Honestly? I wouldn't have got rid of him in the first place.

[Bison44]

11 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Well, I don't know what to say about last nights game, but congrats to de Brienne on his first Valour, CPL and professional goal.

Saw @ValourFurypost on Twitter that fans want Gale back. Honestly? I wouldn't have got rid of him in the first place.

This board was howling for his blood, HAHAHA.  Go back and check last years threads.  

[EnigMattic1]

19 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

This board was howling for his blood, HAHAHA.  Go back and check last years threads.  

I just don't understand why we seem like a totally different team this year. I mean, yeah we had Injuries and the usual visa problems, but half of the team just seems to be going through the motions without any motivation. Does anyone really think Ascanio and Rendon will make that much difference?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would rather Gale than PDS, but I don't think PDS is the right person to lead the team. I don't know who I would have instead, but I don't see us going forward under him.

[Cheeta]

2 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

...

Saw @ValourFurypost on Twitter that fans want Gale back. Honestly?

....

It's a lark.

[shermanator]

Valour is looking a lot like FC Edmonton during their NASL days. Ownership who doesn't know what they're doing, a stadium completely unsuitable to this league (albeit for opposite reasoning), boring play, terrible results, and dwindling atmosphere in the stands. There was a lot of promise with this club when it first launched and it's going to take a huge effort to get that back.

It is kind of amusing reading the vitriol here from a few Valour supporters towards Cavalry whenever the two play. I've got no hatred for Valour, but it's crystal clear Cavalry is a superior club in every facet. Ownership, stadium, supporters, game day experience, results. Valour could learn a lot from Cavalry on how to take their CPL club seriously...

[jonovision]

17 minutes ago, shermanator said:

Valour is looking a lot like FC Edmonton during their NASL days. Ownership who doesn't know what they're doing, a stadium completely unsuitable to this league (albeit for opposite reasoning), boring play, terrible results, and dwindling atmosphere in the stands. There was a lot of promise with this club when it first launched and it's going to take a huge effort to get that back.

It is kind of amusing reading the vitriol here from a few Valour supporters towards Cavalry whenever the two play. I've got no hatred for Valour, but it's crystal clear Cavalry is a superior club in every facet. Ownership, stadium, supporters, game day experience, results. Valour could learn a lot from Cavalry on how to take their CPL club seriously...

The only things I have against Cavalry are Wheeldon's stupid period costumes and their style of play in year 1. The first match at Calgary was just one horror tackle after another by the home side and resulted in two season-defining injuries. I've posted several times on here that Cavalry are the league's best team, by far, in 2022.

As to ownership, you're right. Valour are clearly an afterthought for the Bombers organization and it shows. From the smaller player budgets resulting in a roster with hardly a single player having any sort of past professional success, to all of the off the field stuff.

There's nothing to be done about the stadium -- Valour will either have to grow into the current home, wait decades for a smaller spot, or fold. That's the economics of it.

Edited June 17, 2022 by jonovision

[EnigMattic1]

14 hours ago, jonovision said:

The only things I have against Cavalry are Wheeldon's stupid period costumes and their style of play in year 1. The first match at Calgary was just one horror tackle after another by the home side and resulted in two season-defining injuries. I've posted several times on here that Cavalry are the league's best team, by far, in 2022.

As to ownership, you're right. Valour are clearly an afterthought for the Bombers organization and it shows. From the smaller player budgets resulting in a roster with hardly a single player having any sort of past professional success, to all of the off the field stuff.

There's nothing to be done about the stadium -- Valour will either have to grow into the current home, wait decades for a smaller spot, or fold. That's the economics of it.

Lets be honest with this point, it isn't often that owners can have more than one team in different sports and make it work (FSG being the main one I am aware of). Your comment about Valour being an afterthought is bang on. The Bombers (nothing against them), will always be front and centre as far as the owners are concerned. I kinda feel like it was just a case of jumping on the bandwagon when the CPL was announced and saw it as a way to make more money. Granted, I wasn't even aware of the CPL until a few years ago, but I research and analyse... A lot. 

One thing I still can't get my head around, and this benefits Cavalry, is the distinct lack of structure for the CPL teams. With the exception of Cavalry Academy in the AMSL, there is no form of reserve/youth teams for any other CPL side since Edmonton closed their academy. I get that they make a big deal out of the U-Sports draft each year, but teams need some form of youth system for sustainability. Hell, pretty much every L1O team have a reserve team AND a youth team (or 3).

Again,going back to grumpy old man/stuck record mode, the number of international players should be cut from 7 to 3 and clubs need a youth system. It won't just benefit the clubs, but the local regions and Canadian soccer in general. 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by EnigMattic1

[jonovision]

5 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

One thing I still can't get my head around, and this benefits Cavalry, is the distinct lack of structure for the CPL teams. With the exception of Cavalry Academy in the AMSL, there is no form of reserve/youth teams for any other CPL side since Edmonton closed their academy. I get that they make a big deal out of the U-Sports draft each year, but teams need some form of youth system for sustainability. Hell, pretty much every L1O team had bit a reserve team AND a youth team (or 3).

There was (still is, maybe?) a pretty strong pipeline of players and staff from the Sigma academy in Ontario to Forge. Many in-the-know types attributed a lot of their success to that.

[EnigMattic1]

6 minutes ago, jonovision said:

There was (still is, maybe?) a pretty strong pipeline of players and staff from the Sigma academy in Ontario to Forge. Many in-the-know types attributed a lot of their success to that.

Yeah, I am aware of that, kind of like an unofficial affiliate club. Bobby was one of the founders of Sigma wasn't he? And I know a couple of the younger players that he signed this summer (one has since moved on(Triantafillou)) from American clubs were former Sigma players. I may be wrong on the exact number, but I believe that 16 of the original Forge roster were all from Sigma. I know Valour have/had links with 5 youth teams, but it isn't quite the same.

[K Edgar]

More than a spark is needed!  AJB's return can hopefully settle the defense.  Midfield was decimated for the last game (Gutierrez suspended, Fordyce knock, Catavolo away), hopefully the addition of Rendon and the return of others can propel this crew back toward the playoff hunt.  Heard anything on Ohin's progress lately?

 

[EnigMattic1]

2 hours ago, K Edgar said:

More than a spark is needed!  AJB's return can hopefully settle the defense.  Midfield was decimated for the last game (Gutierrez suspended, Fordyce knock, Catavolo away), hopefully the addition of Rendon and the return of others can propel this crew back toward the playoff hunt.  Heard anything on Ohin's progress lately?

 

The biggest issue this season has definitely been the depleted squad for the duration. If you count the postponed game and the Canadian Championship game, we are 12 games into the season and STILL don't have all the players.

Rendon may be impressing in training, but that doesn't change the fact that he wont be available until about game 15 (14 in the league). I am going to assume that Ascanio is still having visa problems, so we are still short.

Gale made a valid point on Twitter, saying that "this is the first season where there has been a settled schedule." Shame we have been missing half a squad for a chunk of it.

Edited June 18, 2022 by EnigMattic1

[K Edgar]

Both brothers (Akio)?

 

[EnigMattic1]

9 hours ago, K Edgar said:

Both brothers (Akio)?

 

Yeah, let's loan out Akio. Our squad is overflowing with players and everyone is fully fit and available. That actually sounds like the sort of thing PDS would do.

I'm calling it. If Akio goes out on loan, this will be his last season as a Valour player.